UKAD confirms Salazar investigation

BBC Panorama alleged that Salazar, the head coach at the Nike Oregon Project, violated several anti-doping rules.

Salazar has vehemently denied the claims, issuing a lengthy rebuttal of almost 12,000 words, while Farah, who was not accused of any wrongdoing, has announced he will stand by his coach.

UKAD chief executive Nicole Sapstead said in a statement: ” WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) has confirmed that USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) and UKAD are investigating the relevant allegations in the recent Panorama programme.

“As with all of our on-going investigations, UKAD will not disclose any details, to protect the privacy of everyone involved, and so we do not undermine our own operations of deterring and detecting doping in sport.

“We will follow our usual procedure; if a prosecution is brought we will publish the outcome on our website once due process (including any appeals) has been completed.

“However, if at the end of the investigation there is no resulting prosecution, UKAD will not publish the details. This is because we have a duty to protect the rights of those involved, and any information gathered in the investigation may be important to our work at a later date.”

UK Athletics, which has ordered an independent review into the allegations, urged UKAD to make public its full findings.

Commenting on the UKAD announcement, a statement from the governing body read: “UK Athletics said at the outset that all those making allegations should take their evidence to the relevant anti-doping authorities so we obviously welcome this decision.

“We call on UKAD and other investigating bodies to make public the full findings of their investigations in order to enable full and public transparency.”